West Virginia Passes Law to Attract Data Centers, Advance Energy Infrastructure

April 14, 2025 — The West Virginia Senate on Friday advanced legislation aimed at boosting the state’s role in data center development and energy innovation, approving House Bill 2014 in a 32-1 vote. It now heads to the governor’s desk.

Backed by Gov. Patrick Morrisey (R), the Power Generation and Consumption Act establishes programs to attract high-impact industrial projects and create designated microgrid districts. The bill exempts eligible projects from certain regulatory and zoning requirements and offers a new property tax structure for data centers.

“This is the economic development bill of the session,” Morrisey said in a statement Saturday. “It will dramatically increase West Virginia’s ability to play a major role in data economic development projects, improve our standard of living, and help reduce our income tax… West Virginia is now in a class of its own to attract new data centers and information technology companies.”